Chapter 9
World War I
Study Guide
Mr. Maxa &
Mr. Bellisario
Table of Contents
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Go to the start of Section 1
Go to the start of Section 2
Go to the start of Section 3
Go to the start of Section 4
Section 1
Triple Alliance
• Germany joined Italy
and Austria-Hungary
to form the Triple
Alliance.
Militarism
•
•
In the late 1800s,
Germany and
France were
enemies.
The system of
alliances
encouraged
militarism – the
buildup of armed
forces.
Nationalism
• Nationalism is intense pride in one’s
homeland.
National self-determination in the
Balkans
• Countries in the
Balkan
Peninsula
wanted boarders
of a country
based on
ethnicity.
Serbia – 1st to get Independence
• Serbia gained their
independence from
the Ottoman Empire
in 1815.
• Before World War I,
their biggest fear was
annexation by
Austrian-Hungarian
Empire.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
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In the city of Sarajevo,
capital of Bosnia, the
heir to the AustroHungary throne (i.e.,
Franz Ferdinard)
planned to visit.
On June 28, 1914, a
Bosnian member of a
Serbian nationalist
group killed the heir.
Austria-Hungary issues
an ultimatum to Serbia
but Serbia turns to
Russia and France for
help.
War Erupts
• On July 28, 1914 Austria-Hungary
declared war on Serbia.
• Russia immediately mobilized their army
along the German boarder.
• On August 1, 1914, Germany declared
war on Russia and two days later,
declared war on France.
Allied Powers
• Great Britain,
France, and
Russia joined
together to
form the
Allied
Powers.
Central Powers
• Germany &
AustriaHungary
Germany fights a two sided war
• Germany had
to fight British
and French
troops on the
Western Front
while fighting
the Russians
on the Eastern
Front.
America at the start of the war
• As World War I began, President Wilson
declared that United Sates was neutral.
• However, Americans did take sides
– Most Americans favored the Allies and so did
president Wilson’s cabinet.
– The British also worked to win U.S. support.
German U-Boat Controls the Seas
• German u-boats
controlled the
seas around the
coasts of Britain
and France.
• Sank many
ships.
Sinking of the Lusitania
• In May 1915, the
British passenger
ship, Lusitania
entered the war zone.
• A German U-boat or
submarine, sank the
ship killing nearly
1,200 people
including 128
Americans.
German promises no more
unrestricted submarine warfare
• After a U-boat shot at the
French passenger ship
Sussex, Wilson warned
Germany to stop its
submarine warfare or risk
war with the United
States.
• Germany did not want the
United States to join the
Allies.
• In the Sussex Pledge,
Germany promised not to
sink any merchant ships
without warning.
Zimmerman Pledge
•
In January 1917, a German official
named Arthur Zimmermann told
the German ambassador to
Mexico to ask Mexico to ally itself
with Germany in case of war
between Germany and the United
States.
– In return, Mexico would get back
territory it lost during the Mexican
War.
•
The British intercepted the
Zimmermann telegram.
– It was leaked to American
newspapers.
•
Many Americans now believed
that war with Germany was
necessary.
Wilson’s promises to “keep the
world safe for democracy”
• In February 1917,
Germany again began
unrestricted submarine
warfare.
• Finally, after Germany
sank six American
merchant ships, Wilson
asked Congress to
declare war on Germany.
• Declaration of war was
officially declared on April
6th ,1917.
Section 2
War Industries Board (WIB)
• This board
helped
coordinate the
production of
war materials.
Food Administration – Herbert
Hoover
• Most successful
government agency
during the war.
• This agency
encouraged
Americans to observe
“Wheatless
Mondays”.
Victory Gardens
• Home gardens called,
“Victory gardens”
were promoted so
that less people
would buy food and
more food could be
shipped overseas.
Fuel Administration
• The Fuel
Administration
introduced daylight
saving time and
shortened workweeks
to conserve energy.
• This agency
encouraged
Americans to observe
“Heatless Tuesdays”.
Paying for the World War I
• To help fund the war
effort, congress
raised income tax
rates.
• The government also
raise money to fight
the war by selling
war and liberty
bonds.
National War Labor Board
• The goal of The
National War Labor
Board (NWLB) tried to
avoid labor strikes.
Great Migration
• In the “Great
Migration”,
many African
Americans left
the South to
take jobs in the
northern
factories.
Committee on Public Information
• The Committee on Public
Information (CPI) was led
by George Creel.
• The CPI’s primary job
was to sell the war to the
American people.
• The CPI hired advertises
to creating posters
promoting the draft,
artists developing songs
and poems supporting
the war, and having
people give “Four Minute
Speeches”.
Espionage & Sedition Act
• To limit criticism of the war, congress
passed the Espionage & Sedition Acts.
• The goal of the Espionage Act was to fight
potential spying.
• The Sedition Act made illegal to speak out
against the war publicly.
Schenck v. United States
• Case made it to the
U.S. Supreme Court.
• The court’s majority
opinion ruled that
freedom of speech
could be curbed in
wartime if it presents
a, “clear and present
danger”.
Selective Service – The Draft
• More soldiers were
needed to fight the war.
• Congress believed
conscription (draft) was
necessary.
– It set up a new system of
conscription called
selective service.
• It required all men
between 21 and 30 to
register for the draft.
African Americans in the Army
• African American
soldiers in World
War I served
separately from
white male
soldiers.
Women in the Army
• During World War I,
women in the armed
services performed
nursing and clerical
duties.
Section 3
The Western Front
• The area between the
opposing trenches
was called “No Man’s
Land” because
nothing existed in that
space.
New Technology
• One of the new
technologies of
modern warfare was
the machine gun.
• To avoid being shot
by the machine gun,
armies built trenches.
Airplanes and Zeppelins
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Airplanes were first
used in World War I,
to observe enemy
activities.
As the war
progressed,
airplanes would
engage in dogfights
with machine guns
attached to the
aircraft.
Convoy System
• To minimize
damage by
German uboats,
American
transports
used the
convoy system
to cross the
Atlantic Ocean.
Russia pulls out of war
• In March 1917, riots broke out
in Russia and its leader
stepped down.
• A temporary government was
unable to deal with the
country’s major problems.
• The Bolshevik Party led by V.I.
Lenin overthrew the Russian
government.
• Lenin immediately pulled
Russia out of the war, allowing
Germany to concentrate its
troops on the Western Front.
American fight separate in Europe
• General Pershing
insisted that American
soldiers fight under
American
commanders.
Armistice Declared
• On November 11,
1918, an
armistice was
declared by
Germany and
thus fighting
stopped on the
Western Front.
Treaty of Versailles (Big 4)
• The Big Four
representing the
Allied Powers
included leaders from
France, U.S., Italy,
and France.
Wilson’s 14 Points
• President
Wilson’s plan for
peace that he
took with him to
Paris.
League of Nations
• The League of
Nations was the idea
of President Wilson.
• He wanted the
League of Nations to
be a global alliance to
stop aggression and
promote peace.
European Allies seek revenge from WWI
• Britain and France
wanted to punish
Germany.
• In the Treaty of
Versailles, they made
Germany admit their guilt
in causing World War I,
taking blame for all the
damages.
• Germans were also
required to pay
reparations.
U.S. Senate rejects Treaty of
Versailles – Why?
• U.S. Senate rejected
the Treaty because
President Wilson
refused to take any
Republican leaders
with him to the peace
conference.
• Also, the treaty would
take away their war
powers (to declare
war).
Wilson’s speaking tour & collapse
• President Wilson
wanted to take his
message directly the
American people and
try to win support for
the treaty.
• With the stroke
disables the
president, the U.S.
never joins the
League of Nations.
Section 4
Soldiers Returning
• When the soldiers
returned home from
the war, they found:
– No jobs
– Thousands of union
strikes
– Inflation (prices on
goods went up)
Government ends war agencies
• When the war ended, the government
agencies were no longer needed and thus
they closed.
Seattle Strike
• Shipyard workers in
Seattle went on strike.
• Soon it became a
general strike, or a
strike that involves all
workers in a location,
not just workers in
one industry.
• The strike paralyzed
the city.
Boston Strike
• When police officers in
Boston went on strike,
riots broke out in the city.
• Governor of
Massachusetts, Calvin
Coolidge called in the
National Guard to restore
order, seen as a hero
• The city police
commissioner fired the
strikers and hired a new
police force.
Steel Strike
• The largest strike in
American history
began when 350,000
steel workers went on
strike for higher pay
and shorter work
hours.
Racial Riots in 1919
• Many soldiers returned
home looking for work.
• Many African American
had moved to the North
during the war to take
factory jobs.
• Racism and frustrations
erupted into riots.
– 25 Race riots erupted in
the summer of 1919 with
the worst riot in Chicago.
Red Scare
• With strikes occurring
across the U.S. in
1919, the fear of
Communism led to
the Red Scare
Immigrates importing radical ideals
• Since the late 1800s,
many Americans
blamed immigrants
for bring communist
ideas into the U.S.
• They also blamed
immigrants for labor
problems and
violence.
A Mitchell Palmer – Palmers Raids
• One of the eight bombs that
went off in June of 1919
damaged the home of U.S.
Attorney General, A. Mitchell
Palmer.
• Most people believed the
bombing were the work of
radicals trying to destroy the
American way of life.
• Although evidence pointed to
one group as the bombers,
Palmer organized raids on the
foreign-born and on radicals.
• Palmer rounded-up many
immigrants and had them
deported or expelled from the
country.
J. Edgar Hoover
• A. Mitchell Palmer set
up the General
Intelligence Division
within the Justice
Department, headed
by J. Edgar Hoover
• This division later
becomes the Federal
Bureau of
Investigations.
600 Communists deported
• Palmers
raids resulted
in deporting
nearly 600
people out of
the United
States.
Often violated civil liberties
• The Palmer raids were carried out without
concern for people’s civil rights.
• Homes were entered without search warrants.
• People were jailed indefinitely and not allowed to
talk to their attorneys.
• Palmer was first praised for his work.
• However, when he failed to find any real
evidence of a revolutionary conspiracy, his
popularity faded.
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